Chapter 180 - 175: The Old Comrade’s Embarrassment

Chapter 180: Chapter 175: The Old Comrade’s Embarrassment

Everyone saw him and quickly stood up. They recognized the newcomer; it was the regional Special Commissioner, Wei Dongliang.

"Oh, having a meeting, are we? So lively. Huh? Old Chief, what are you doing here?"

Wei Dongliang was quite surprised to see the old man.

"Hello, Special Commissioner. I’m here to handle a private matter. Are you here for an inspection? Why is it so noisy outside?"

The old man was an old chief, but his rank was slightly lower than the Special Commissioner’s. Seeing it was Wei Dongliang, he quickly stood and politely offered a handshake.

"Hahaha, that’s the drum and gong troupe I arranged. I’m here to deliver good news!"

After speaking, Wei Dongliang looked at the old secretary, his eyes full of satisfaction.

"Doesn’t your county have a farmer comrade named Zhao Wendong? The one who caught over four thousand catties of fish a while back? Hahaha, I bet you don’t know yet, but this comrade has brought tremendous honor to our region! Even the Elder himself ate the fish he caught. And not only did he eat it, he even sent back a piece of calligraphy in return—personally inscribed!"

"Come, come, take a look."

When Wei Dongliang finished speaking, everyone was dumbfounded. A personal inscription from the Elder... for Zhao Wendong???

But these were Wei Dongliang’s words, and they had no choice but to believe him. Wei Dongliang stepped aside, revealing a frame held by two people behind him. Inside was a mounted piece of calligraphy. The old uncle of Li Guangming’s wife—the old man—shot forward in a single bound to examine the characters. In that moment, he was nimble and agile, with none of his earlier frailty.

Inside the frame were four large, majestic words: Man Can Conquer Nature!

The calligraphy was like dragons and snakes in flight, grand and powerful. Those who had studied the Elder’s work recognized it at a glance. It was definitely his personal handwriting. Besides, his signature was at the bottom—who would dare to forge that?

At the very bottom was a line of smaller characters: "To Comrade Zhao Wendong, the little fishing master, in hopes that he continues his efforts and reaches new heights."

"My god!"

"Heavens, it’s real!"

The leaders couldn’t help but lose their composure, letting slip exclamations. Jiang Weimin’s head was buzzing. ’What the hell? Zhao Wendong, are you God’s illegitimate son or something?’

"Hahaha, how about it? Are you happy? Is this an honor or what? Hahaha!"

Wei Dongliang didn’t mind their reactions at all; in fact, he was delighted.

"Excellent! Your county has done great work. I’m very satisfied with your performance, comrades. This time, you’ve all made a huge contribution to the region, and the region won’t let you down. At this year’s commendation ceremony, I will make a point of praising your county, as well as Comrade Zhao Wendong and all related comrades."

"I’ll make this promise right here: Outstanding Individual, Advanced Worker, Model Laborer—the region will not be stingy with any awards we have. The comrades who handled this matter also did a fine job. They must be generously rewarded and promoted to important positions!"

Hearing Wei Dongliang make such a promise in front of so many people, everyone knew the leader was genuinely pleased. Many cast envious glances at Jiang Weimin. Besides Zhao Wendong, Jiang Weimin, who had orchestrated the whole affair, was bound to be the biggest beneficiary. A competitor had just died, and now he had achieved such great merit. It was enough to make anyone die of envy.

The old man’s expression flickered uncertainly. The young adjutant behind him looked like he had just eaten shit. Wasn’t this Zhao Wendong the prime suspect they were just talking about investigating? Now that the Elder himself had proclaimed "Man Can Conquer Nature," what was the point of investigating anything!

"Since you’re here, Old Sir, shall we go to Dragon King Pond together to deliver the good news to this Comrade Zhao Wendong?"

Wei Dongliang extended the invitation to the old man, who shuddered and quickly shook his head.

"No, no, you go on. I mainly came here to discuss another matter with them. I’ll head back as soon as I’m done. I have things waiting for me back there!"

After speaking, he turned to the county secretary, Jiang Weimin, and the others, and bellowed with a furious expression.

"This Li Guangming was a disgrace to our nation! Death would have been too good for him. I was against it from the start when my grandniece wanted to marry him. I’ve guessed the cause of his death, too. It must be because he married the daughter of a high-ranking Japanese official, and then achieved great merit by capturing his wife and father-in-law, right? So, Japanese secret agents retaliated against him, and my grandniece was caught in the crossfire. Ai, my poor grandniece!"

The young man beside him quickly nodded in agreement. "Old Chief, you’re absolutely right! It must have been retaliation from Japanese agents. It’s logical and reasonable. We can basically say that’s the truth of the matter!"

The old man pursed his lips but said nothing more. He then looked at the county officials and said.

"Li Guangming is dead, so be it. There’s no need to waste manpower and resources investigating it. The most important thing is for you to find these detestable agents so they can’t continue to cause harm!"

The old secretary, Jiang Weimin, Director Fei, and the others exchanged glances. With the Old Chief having spelled it out so clearly, how could they not understand his meaning? They quickly nodded in agreement.

"Understood. We will take the matter of Li Guangming being murdered by Japanese agents very seriously!"

"That’s right! We will immediately mobilize the masses of the entire county to find the Japanese agent murderers!"

Hearing this, Wei Dongliang clapped his hands, his face filled with relief.

"Oh, you’re talking about the Li Guangming case? I was hoping to check on the progress during my visit. I didn’t expect you all to be so efficient! And the Old Chief is so concerned about this matter that he even helped clarify the case. Forget just your county. Let’s take advantage of the winter lull and launch a large-scale investigation across the entire region. We’ll fully mobilize the masses and find these agents. Let them have a taste of a people’s war!"

"Yes!"

"Roger!"

Since Wei Dongliang, the regional Special Commissioner, had spoken, the matter was settled. The old man breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Jiang Weimin.

"Xiaojiang, I hear you have a good relationship with Comrade Zhao Wendong. You must convey my sincere apologies to him. Li Guangming’s family caused him a lot of trouble while they were alive. I hope he won’t take it to heart."

Jiang Weimin nodded hastily.

"Of course, Old Chief. I’ll be sure to pass it on. Comrade Zhao Wendong is a very sensible and good comrade. He absolutely won’t hold any grudges!"

"Mm, that’s good. Well, I’ll let you get back to it. I’m heading off now!"

The old man said his goodbyes to Wei Dongliang, then got into a jeep with his men and left.

A flicker of a smile passed, very discreetly, through Wei Dongliang’s eyes. He looked at Jiang Weimin and the others.

"Finish up your meeting quickly, then take me to see Comrade Zhao Wendong."

"Yes, sir."

After Wei Dongliang also went to a nearby room to rest, only the county officials were left. They looked at each other, feeling as if they were in a dream. So much had happened in such a short time; the amount of new information was staggering, and the reversals were just too much.

At this, the old secretary’s spirits lifted. He suddenly slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone again.

"Secretary Weimin! That matter with Zhao... ah, with the Dragon King Pond Production Team needing bricks—I think such a constructive project must be implemented immediately! Why don’t you go this time and finalize it directly with their Team Committee? Is the Dragon King Pond Team Committee building houses? The county doesn’t just have a surplus of bricks, does it? I seem to recall we have plenty of tiles, white lime, and other materials left over, too. Ask... ask the Dragon King Pond Team Committee if they want any. We can trade it all for grain!"

"If they really don’t have enough grain, that’s understandable. After all, food is hard to come by these days. They can owe us for now and pay it back slowly. You must remember to get this done as soon as possible, Secretary Weimin!"

"Yes, Secretary!"

Jiang Weimin nodded quickly. He couldn’t help but smile, imagining Zhao Wendong’s reaction to this news. The kid would surely be jumping for joy.

Hearing this, the others all nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Right, right! Since the Dragon King Pond Team Committee is so motivated, we should certainly provide more help in every aspect!"

"Exactly! I propose we make the Dragon King Pond Team Committee a pilot project for assistance. We can pair them with our county for mutual support."

As the saying goes, many hands make light work. With the Elder’s calligraphy on display, anyone foolish enough not to hitch their wagon to this star would be utterly lacking in political awareness.

Not daring to keep Wei Dongliang waiting too long, the group went to find him as soon as they had settled things, ready to arrange the trip to Dragon King Pond. When Jiang Weimin saw the accompanying reporter with a camera slung over his shoulder next to Wei Dongliang, his eyes suddenly lit up as he remembered the photos he had taken.

Jiang Weimin hurried to his desk, opened a drawer, and unwrapped a paper packet. Inside was a stack of photographs. They were group photos of him with Zhao Wendong and the four brothers in front of the boat full of fish.

Seeing the photos in Jiang Weimin’s hand, Wei Dongliang clapped him happily on the shoulder.

"Not bad, Comrade Weimin. Your work is very meticulous."

The reporter who had come along brightened up and leaned in.

"Secretary Jiang, could you give us one of those photos?"

"Of course, here you go."

Jiang Weimin knew the reporter would definitely use it for the newspaper, so of course he was more than willing. Besides, he had developed more than ten copies. Giving one to the reporter still left plenty. Jiang Weimin took all the copies with him, planning to bring them along on this trip.

The old secretary was about to retire and no longer had such strong career ambitions. He smiled, pointed at Jiang Weimin, and said to Wei Dongliang.

"Special Commissioner, Comrade Weimin handled this whole affair from start to finish. Why not have him represent the county and accompany you?"

"Excellent. Comrade Weimin, shall we depart? I’m quite eager to meet Comrade Zhao Wendong!"

"Yes, Special Commissioner."

"Come, come, Comrade Weimin, you ride in my car!"

Beaming, Jiang Weimin got into the Special Commissioner’s Volga. The rest followed in a large truck. At the very front of the truck, in the most conspicuous spot, were several men holding the framed calligraphy, the large red flower on it particularly eye-catching.

As soon as the vehicles started moving, the drum and gong troupe struck up again. The convoy, consisting of two large trucks from the region and one Volga, paraded through the county town. The townspeople pointed and stared at the spectacle, wondering what was going on.

The convoy paused at the main purchasing station. A bewildered Wang Defa was called out. Once he was in the vehicle and saw Wei Dongliang, he was so excited he nearly fainted on the spot!

’What did I tell you? It’s never wrong to be on good terms with Zhao Wendong!’ he thought. But then, thinking of how Secretary Weimin had remembered him at a time like this, he shot a discreet, grateful look at Jiang Weimin. Without turning his head, Jiang Weimin gave a slow nod. Everything was understood without a word.

’Since Secretary Weimin thought of me, I can’t forget Old Zheng,’ Wang Defa thought. So he said respectfully.

"At the time, it was Comrade Zheng Guangrong, the head of our Commune’s purchasing station, who was by the telephone first thing in the morning and notified me immediately. He is a diligent and hardworking comrade, and a veteran of our station!"

Wei Dongliang smiled and nodded, then took one of the photos and showed it to Wang Defa.

"Which one is the comrade you’re talking about?"

"This one!"

Seeing that Special Commissioner Wei had a copy of the photo, Wang Defa’s eyes lit up. He realized that what was once a casual group photo had now taken on a completely different nature because of the Elder’s gift. This photograph, and the people in it, were all about to receive immense benefits.

Indeed, the benefits were already arriving. They had already made an impression on the region’s Special Commissioner. Wei Dongliang had Jiang Weimin point out Zhao Wendong, and after studying him for a moment, he nodded.

"He truly is a fine young comrade. Look at him, so full of vigor. Only with such spirit can one create a feat like ’Man Can Conquer Nature’!"

"Come, tell me who the rest of these people are."

Jiang Weimin introduced them one by one. He explained that five of the men were with Zhao Wendong, which three had gone to sea with him, who Liangzi and Little Shanghai were, and that they were good friends of Zhao Wendong’s. Wei Dongliang listened with great interest, then pointed to Yang Wenxue, who hadn’t been mentioned yet.

"Who is this?"

"Oh, that’s their Commune secretary, Comrade Yang Wenxue."

"Mm, not bad. Another good comrade. We’ll pick him up when we get to the Commune."

"Yes, Special Commissioner."